Bill Yoo & Greg Gearhart with spouses - February 2013:
Costa Rica is a beautiful country with much to see and to do. We stayed at the DoubleTree, Central Pacific Coast All-inclusive. Food was good and the resort was beautiful. This resort is available on Dargal and Perx for less than $100/night per person. It is located near Puntarenas, about 1 1/2 hours from SJO. If you are looking for a nice all-inclusive on the beach as a base for touring this part of CR, this resort is great. Don't plan on sunning on the beach because the sand is volcanic, black sand. However, the pools are great and there is a nice area right above the beach in the shade. If you want to travel to the Arenal Volcano, Manuel Antonio National Park or places farther than that, I suggest you stay nearer those areas because the drive is too far. Tours to the Carara National Park to see the crocodiles and birds, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and the Poas Volcano were all excellent and within an hour or two. Be sure to go early to see the volcano as it clouds up in the morning and you may have trouble seeing much if you aren't there very early. Here are a few other tips:
We hired a taxi (van) from the airport for $90 US. You can just pick up one outside the airport and negotiate or use the guide we hired. Jairo (pronounced "Hi-a-do") Martin Gonzalez Blanco. He works for a guy named Gravan who owns the van. Jairo lived in Alabama for a year and speaks good English. He is very knowledgeable, entertaining and somewhat of a comedian who will make all your tours in the Puntarenas area fun. He transported the four of us to SJO from the resort for $90. He can be reached by email: jairogb2876@gmail.com or jairogb2876@hotmail.com. Cell phone: (506)8546-5297.
It is not necessary to change a lot of money to CR colones. They take American dollars and seem to prefer them since all tours etc. are quoted in US dollars. There are a few shops etc. that you may need colones, but taxis, tours and the resorts deal in US dollars.
You will need to have $29 per person for an exit tax. You can pay by credit card. The counter for paying the tax is located right across from the Frontier ticket counter.
Costa Ricans are very nice but poor. Tourism is there biggest industry so they treat tourists great. Don't leave valuables unattended or in cars if you rent a car. Theft is a problem there. We had no problems, just be cautious.
The driving in Costa Rica in general is not too tough. We did not go into San Jose so it might be a different story there. However, we hired the guide because he can make the trip more enjoyable with his local knowledge. Also, CR does not have many road signs so anywhere off the main highway is tough to negotiate without a GPS. It would probably be tough even with a GPS but that is part of the adventure. We did not take the buses, but there seems to be a decent bus system if you want to try getting around that way.
There is a great little hotel near SJO if you need to stay near the airport for that early return to Denver. The Hotel Villa Dolce is clean and has a restaurant so you don't need to go out. It doesn't look like much from the outside, just a gated entry in an area that is commercial. Inside it is very nice and for $62 you can't beat it. It is about 7 minutes from the airport and they will arrange a taxi for $10. Here is a link to book this hotel: www.villadolce.com/ Ginney Regan - January 2013
Hotel closings on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast spark violence
The Las Palmas and Suerre hotels in Punta Uva were shut down this week, 18 years after they were ordered to be closed by MINAET. Protesters demonstrated at the demolition of the hotels. Area residents blocked the street, burned tires and tried to turn back a brigade of police. Jim Campbell, Frank Veucasovic, Roberto Maciel, and Mike Summers - January 2010:
Scouts Jim, Frank, Robert, and Mike went to Costa Rica in January 2010. We had a great time. We headed east from San Jose toward the Caribbean Sea in our Alamo rental car. From the coast town of Limon, we headed south to Puerto Viejo. This town is a pleasant surprise. We stayed at the Las Palmas hotel for $105/night (US cash). This included a room with 4 king-size beds, AC, flat screen TV with Cable, breakfast in the morning, refridgerator, pool, and the Caribbean Sea 15 yards from our door. If you want a relaxing vacation where you walk the beach, sit and read on the beach, swim in the Caribbean, or people watch, this is the place for you.
Las Palmas: http://www.laspalmashotel.com
There is a grocery store in town where you can buy important items like Imperial Beer and snacks.
In San Jose, stay at the following hotel the night before your departure: www.villadolce.com
Scouts Campbell, Macias, Veucasovic, or Summers will be gald to tell you more about our trip including our excursion to Panama and what happens when you pick up a Tico hitchhiker.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dale the Ron - January 2007:
Overall rating… a strong B on the A thru F school teacher scale, I would have given it a B+, but the 5 hour plus airplane ride down there, the addition ground time to your resort, and poor quality of the beaches gave it this overall rating. Just so you will know, I rate Kauai A+, Maui A, Lake Tahoe A-, Puerto Vallarta B+.
I stayed on the Central Pacific area of Costa Rica in a small beach town known as Jaco. It was a two and half hour plus bus ride to get there. We (scout Frank and me) used the public inter city bus to get there. Cost $3.00. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BUS SYSTEM. The buses are modern, poor air condition if any, the people who use it are TICAs or natives. The Ticas were no problem. However the San Jose bus station is a $19 taxi ride from the airport; to a location much worst than anything in lower downtown Denver that you can think of. YOU will look out of place, their easiest next crime victim. Lucky for us it was early Sunday morning daylight. No signs, No PA announcements to tell you which of the five buses will be yours. As a matter of fact we almost missed it, the next bus would be 3 hours later. It could have been a fatal mistake to stand in that area for 3 hrs.
I recommend taking a “blue shuttle type” bus from the airport directly to Jaco or where ever. On the return trip, I took the shuttle bus directly from Jaco hotel to my downtown San Jose hotel for. It cost $24. There is a free shuttle service from the downtown hotel to the airport (more on than later) $24 vs. $10 (my share of taxi and bus).
The bus station at Jaco is not a bus station. Hint, when the bus does a U-turn (near the Pizza Hut) and the driver unloads all the remaining luggage onto the street, you are there. The bus will do several city type bus stops for the Ticas before the U-turn and unload. If you are smart sit on the right side of the bus so you can watch which if any Tica leaves with your luggage. Most Ticas do not have luggage so the driver watches for that. One more bus hint, even though you showed your ticket to the driver when you first got on. The bus will stop on the side of the roadway, after 10 minutes, and the driver will collect the tickets this time. DO NOT THROW AWAY your ticket just because you showed it when you got on the bus. Or you will be left there on the side of the roadway.
Not knowing where the U-turn bus station was in relationship to our hotel, we flagged down a taxi for a nice $2, three block taxi ride to the hotel. All Jaco taxi rides were $2. However after the first day we just walked the less than one mile trip between downtown Jaco and the hotel. A very good way to burn off the GREAT FOOD. $1.60 beer/$1.80 diet coke in Jaco, tells you what to drink if on a budget.
Our hotel was the Hotel Pochote Grande on the beach, similar to a super 8 type motel, with friendly staff, tasty food, fair price, view, location, etc, this makes it a 3.5 star hotel. When I go back, I will stay there again. A big very tasty $6 breakfast buffet is waiting you. This is the spot that you must stay at if you want to be de-stressed during your vacation. $82/night two double beds, it has a website. I am working on a F-9 discount with the owner (they like the idea).
Almost next door is a family-kid oriented Best Western Hotel Jaco Beach, bigger, things for the kids to do, fancier in house restaurants, Full size Star War model fighters hanging from the palm trees, pool sports, . If you take your kids with you, I would recommend this. $119/night
If you want a true resort type hotel in Jaco, I think it is all inclusive… about 10-12 miles north of town, go to the Punta Leona. Much bigger, the best sand in the area (that’s not saying much), super size pool, many bars, different type of housing, rooms, suites, stand alone suites, etc… . However you must take a taxi to town and back for shopping and other food, no taxi stands they will call them for you (more than the $2 taxi ride). from $150+/night
Although there are tours out of Jaco, i.e. national parks, most of the good tours and things you will want to see are out of San Jose to the north of the country. There is a great 11 (eleven) hour guided tour, bus, boat, foot, buffet lunch that will show you everything for around a $100. It will fit into a 4 day trip just right. www.costaricainfo.com Many other one event tours are available.
Hotels in San Jose that I checked out: I stayed at a US national chain, Sleep Inn. It was in central downtown San Jose (similar to 16th and California St. in downtown Denver). A 21 minute free hotel shuttle to the airport @ 5:10am. This shuttle matches up with your departure time on F9. The hotel has two casinos, a restaurant, although it is a Sleep Inn, I would rate it as a four star. For people who use the Holiday Inn, it is just one block, away across a city park. Using the Sleep Inn national website and asking for the internet rate. . $81/night, I will stay there again.
Two other hotels that are worth looking at while staying in San Jose. Best Western at Irazu, it looked very nice, outside of the core city towards the airport, casino, I was told this is the crew hotel, about 12 minutes from the airport. The other is Hampton Inn & Suites at Garden Court, it is just off the airport, a casino next to it, big, could be noisy due to the runways. I found both hotels on bookit.com, drove past them en route to the airport. About $125-$150/night or more.
Some quick notes;
Dress Down: wear the worst type clothes that you can get away with and still meet the F9 dress code. Do not be a crime target, when you arrive, you will look like easy prey carrying your luggage wearing nice clothes.
Few things in Costa Rica are cheap… however you have a bargain vacation if you plan your trip.
If you love to drive in a total road rage conditions rent a car. I was surprised to see how they took it all in stride. In Denver there would have been several shooting.
Never had to exchange US dollars for Colones, everyone wants US dollars. I took $2 bills and all the Ticas wanted them. They got me a little more for my buck. Casinos take them at the tables.
Beaches are a big minus for the country… wear shoes, tons of small rocks and cars parked on them.
English is not in wide use like Mexico, some times you had to search out someone to help you translate. Taxi cab drivers are not good with English, just like home.
This is a very poor country, houses all have security bars on windows and doors.
In CR, stock up on the legal drugs that you need… about 75% lower than the US cost.
East coast beaches are loaded with dope smoking, the Ticas warned about these areas. The Pacific coast area of Montezuma also heavy dope usage (not like there is anything wrong with that).
Illegal drugs are offered by street vendors so if you are looking for it, it will find you.
Do not mess with any thing under 18 years of age including whiskey.
If jailed you may never be found again.
YOUR CELL PHONE WILL NOT WORK, AND NO TEXT MESSAGING, ….yes!
Internet Cafés everywhere… $1/hr, 40cts/15 minutes… free at the Sleep Inn
Most casinos are like ship casinos or micro casinos; small… I did win over $300.
The Custom area is not like DIA, when you get off the plane, you can wander all around the airport eat, drink, whatever, before exiting immigration. The custom officer I had did not speak English. So, I did not have to answer any questions. Just got stamped and left the area.
High season is from November to April 15, then low season rates, rain Sept/October, a lot.
Monday another carrier dumped 25 passengers to Frontier and two non-revs got bounced back to Wednesday for the return trip home… watch the numbers, it can happen there too!
Order Steak, the size of the portion will be large, they can made it better than Texans.
Male scouts can ask me in person about the Hotel Del Rey, Blue Marlin bar or the Beatle bar, I have some Dale the Ron gone wild stories, all legal according to Costa Rica law.
This will shock you… F9 feeds you on the way home. Have a good time.
Warning: Keep your hard copy cards that you get at the pass bureau in Denver when you paid your exit taxes. You will need it at the Frontier ticket counter in San Jose when you leave. They say it is your ticket to travel, maybe I am just an international naïve non-rev traveler, but I almost tossed mine at the hotel.
Frontier ticker counter is just right of when you enter the international departure doors at the airport. It faces where you must buy your leaving the country taxes ($26), they take credit cards.
The whole process from the time I walked in the door at the airport, bought the tax pass, got my boarding pass at Frontier, passed through their TSA security took 31 minutes. Total time from the downtown Sleep INN hotel to gate 9 at San Jose International Airport was 55 minutes.
Hello Fellow Scouts,
For those of you who are planning a trip to Costa Rica, I have friends in San Isidro who rent two cottages for the bargain price of $45 for the smaller unit and $65 for the larger. You can see the smaller unit posted at Homeaway.com #969365. James is American and his wife is Tico. They have two sons. Their cottages are lovely, and secure. They are a short walk to the bus stops, which have buses that run every 20 minutes or so, for .35 cents. No real need for a car, unless you care to explore. Even then, you can hire a taxi for a reasonable rate, to take you pretty much anywhere. I'd recommend Charlie, who speaks English, and is a great guy! There is the local ferria (market) every Thursday, that is a delight to attend. Fruits and vegetable like you've never seen! Great place to socialize with other Americans, Canadians, locals, etc. The town of San Isidro is about 15 minutes from the cottages. The cottages have access to the river(stream), where you can sit in the pools of water, sit on the rocks to read a book, or whatever is your fancy. The rush of the water will lull you to sleep at night. There are a variety of birds to feed and watch, as well. You can email James Peppard at james43michael@gmail.com for photos and more information.
I will soon be living directly across the river! Hope you'll look me up sometime. Bert DeForest
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Costa Rica Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Costa_Rica
San Jose (Capital) Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Jose_(Costa_Rica)
Guanacaste Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Guanacaste
Liberia Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Liberia(Costa_Rica)
Puerto Viejo (Caribbean Coast) Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Puerto_Viejo_de_Talamanca
Dominican Republic Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Dominican_Republic
Punta Cana (DC) Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Punta_Cana
Bill Yoo & Greg Gearhart with spouses - February 2013:
Costa Rica is a beautiful country with much to see and to do. We stayed at the DoubleTree, Central Pacific Coast All-inclusive. Food was good and the resort was beautiful. This resort is available on Dargal and Perx for less than $100/night per person. It is located near Puntarenas, about 1 1/2 hours from SJO. If you are looking for a nice all-inclusive on the beach as a base for touring this part of CR, this resort is great. Don't plan on sunning on the beach because the sand is volcanic, black sand. However, the pools are great and there is a nice area right above the beach in the shade. If you want to travel to the Arenal Volcano, Manuel Antonio National Park or places farther than that, I suggest you stay nearer those areas because the drive is too far. Tours to the Carara National Park to see the crocodiles and birds, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and the Poas Volcano were all excellent and within an hour or two. Be sure to go early to see the volcano as it clouds up in the morning and you may have trouble seeing much if you aren't there very early. Here are a few other tips:
We hired a taxi (van) from the airport for $90 US. You can just pick up one outside the airport and negotiate or use the guide we hired. Jairo (pronounced "Hi-a-do") Martin Gonzalez Blanco. He works for a guy named Gravan who owns the van. Jairo lived in Alabama for a year and speaks good English. He is very knowledgeable, entertaining and somewhat of a comedian who will make all your tours in the Puntarenas area fun. He transported the four of us to SJO from the resort for $90. He can be reached by email: jairogb2876@gmail.com or jairogb2876@hotmail.com. Cell phone: (506)8546-5297.
It is not necessary to change a lot of money to CR colones. They take American dollars and seem to prefer them since all tours etc. are quoted in US dollars. There are a few shops etc. that you may need colones, but taxis, tours and the resorts deal in US dollars.
You will need to have $29 per person for an exit tax. You can pay by credit card. The counter for paying the tax is located right across from the Frontier ticket counter.
Costa Ricans are very nice but poor. Tourism is there biggest industry so they treat tourists great. Don't leave valuables unattended or in cars if you rent a car. Theft is a problem there. We had no problems, just be cautious.
The driving in Costa Rica in general is not too tough. We did not go into San Jose so it might be a different story there. However, we hired the guide because he can make the trip more enjoyable with his local knowledge. Also, CR does not have many road signs so anywhere off the main highway is tough to negotiate without a GPS. It would probably be tough even with a GPS but that is part of the adventure. We did not take the buses, but there seems to be a decent bus system if you want to try getting around that way.
There is a great little hotel near SJO if you need to stay near the airport for that early return to Denver. The Hotel Villa Dolce is clean and has a restaurant so you don't need to go out. It doesn't look like much from the outside, just a gated entry in an area that is commercial. Inside it is very nice and for $62 you can't beat it. It is about 7 minutes from the airport and they will arrange a taxi for $10. Here is a link to book this hotel: www.villadolce.com/
Ginney Regan - January 2013
Ran across this articale on the web from www.ticotimes.net:
Hotel closings on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast spark violenceThe Las Palmas and Suerre hotels in Punta Uva were shut down this week, 18 years after they were ordered to be closed by MINAET. Protesters demonstrated at the demolition of the hotels. Area residents blocked the street, burned tires and tried to turn back a brigade of police.
Jim Campbell, Frank Veucasovic, Roberto Maciel, and Mike Summers - January 2010:
Scouts Jim, Frank, Robert, and Mike went to Costa Rica in January 2010. We had a great time. We headed east from San Jose toward the Caribbean Sea in our Alamo rental car. From the coast town of Limon, we headed south to Puerto Viejo. This town is a pleasant surprise. We stayed at the Las Palmas hotel for $105/night (US cash). This included a room with 4 king-size beds, AC, flat screen TV with Cable, breakfast in the morning, refridgerator, pool, and the Caribbean Sea 15 yards from our door. If you want a relaxing vacation where you walk the beach, sit and read on the beach, swim in the Caribbean, or people watch, this is the place for you.
Las Palmas: http://www.laspalmashotel.com
Other Puerto Viejo information: http://www.puertoviejo.cr/ or http://www.puertoviejo.net/
There is a grocery store in town where you can buy important items like Imperial Beer and snacks.
In San Jose, stay at the following hotel the night before your departure: www.villadolce.com
Scouts Campbell, Macias, Veucasovic, or Summers will be gald to tell you more about our trip including our excursion to Panama and what happens when you pick up a Tico hitchhiker.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dale the Ron - January 2007:
Overall rating… a strong B on the A thru F school teacher scale, I would have given it a B+, but the 5 hour plus airplane ride down there, the addition ground time to your resort, and poor quality of the beaches gave it this overall rating. Just so you will know, I rate Kauai A+, Maui A, Lake Tahoe A-, Puerto Vallarta B+.
I stayed on the Central Pacific area of Costa Rica in a small beach town known as Jaco. It was a two and half hour plus bus ride to get there. We (scout Frank and me) used the public inter city bus to get there. Cost $3.00. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BUS SYSTEM. The buses are modern, poor air condition if any, the people who use it are TICAs or natives. The Ticas were no problem. However the San Jose bus station is a $19 taxi ride from the airport; to a location much worst than anything in lower downtown Denver that you can think of. YOU will look out of place, their easiest next crime victim. Lucky for us it was early Sunday morning daylight. No signs, No PA announcements to tell you which of the five buses will be yours. As a matter of fact we almost missed it, the next bus would be 3 hours later. It could have been a fatal mistake to stand in that area for 3 hrs.
I recommend taking a “blue shuttle type” bus from the airport directly to Jaco or where ever. On the return trip, I took the shuttle bus directly from Jaco hotel to my downtown San Jose hotel for. It cost $24. There is a free shuttle service from the downtown hotel to the airport (more on than later) $24 vs. $10 (my share of taxi and bus).
The bus station at Jaco is not a bus station. Hint, when the bus does a U-turn (near the Pizza Hut) and the driver unloads all the remaining luggage onto the street, you are there. The bus will do several city type bus stops for the Ticas before the U-turn and unload. If you are smart sit on the right side of the bus so you can watch which if any Tica leaves with your luggage. Most Ticas do not have luggage so the driver watches for that. One more bus hint, even though you showed your ticket to the driver when you first got on. The bus will stop on the side of the roadway, after 10 minutes, and the driver will collect the tickets this time. DO NOT THROW AWAY your ticket just because you showed it when you got on the bus. Or you will be left there on the side of the roadway.
Not knowing where the U-turn bus station was in relationship to our hotel, we flagged down a taxi for a nice $2, three block taxi ride to the hotel. All Jaco taxi rides were $2. However after the first day we just walked the less than one mile trip between downtown Jaco and the hotel. A very good way to burn off the GREAT FOOD. $1.60 beer/$1.80 diet coke in Jaco, tells you what to drink if on a budget.
Our hotel was the Hotel Pochote Grande on the beach, similar to a super 8 type motel, with friendly staff, tasty food, fair price, view, location, etc, this makes it a 3.5 star hotel. When I go back, I will stay there again. A big very tasty $6 breakfast buffet is waiting you. This is the spot that you must stay at if you want to be de-stressed during your vacation. $82/night two double beds, it has a website. I am working on a F-9 discount with the owner (they like the idea).
Almost next door is a family-kid oriented Best Western Hotel Jaco Beach, bigger, things for the kids to do, fancier in house restaurants, Full size Star War model fighters hanging from the palm trees, pool sports, . If you take your kids with you, I would recommend this. $119/night
If you want a true resort type hotel in Jaco, I think it is all inclusive… about 10-12 miles north of town, go to the Punta Leona. Much bigger, the best sand in the area (that’s not saying much), super size pool, many bars, different type of housing, rooms, suites, stand alone suites, etc… . However you must take a taxi to town and back for shopping and other food, no taxi stands they will call them for you (more than the $2 taxi ride). from $150+/night
Although there are tours out of Jaco, i.e. national parks, most of the good tours and things you will want to see are out of San Jose to the north of the country. There is a great 11 (eleven) hour guided tour, bus, boat, foot, buffet lunch that will show you everything for around a $100. It will fit into a 4 day trip just right. www.costaricainfo.com Many other one event tours are available.
Hotels in San Jose that I checked out: I stayed at a US national chain, Sleep Inn. It was in central downtown San Jose (similar to 16th and California St. in downtown Denver). A 21 minute free hotel shuttle to the airport @ 5:10am. This shuttle matches up with your departure time on F9. The hotel has two casinos, a restaurant, although it is a Sleep Inn, I would rate it as a four star. For people who use the Holiday Inn, it is just one block, away across a city park. Using the Sleep Inn national website and asking for the internet rate. . $81/night, I will stay there again.
Two other hotels that are worth looking at while staying in San Jose. Best Western at Irazu, it looked very nice, outside of the core city towards the airport, casino, I was told this is the crew hotel, about 12 minutes from the airport. The other is Hampton Inn & Suites at Garden Court, it is just off the airport, a casino next to it, big, could be noisy due to the runways. I found both hotels on bookit.com, drove past them en route to the airport. About $125-$150/night or more.
Some quick notes;
Warning: Keep your hard copy cards that you get at the pass bureau in Denver when you paid your exit taxes. You will need it at the Frontier ticket counter in San Jose when you leave. They say it is your ticket to travel, maybe I am just an international naïve non-rev traveler, but I almost tossed mine at the hotel.
Frontier ticker counter is just right of when you enter the international departure doors at the airport. It faces where you must buy your leaving the country taxes ($26), they take credit cards.
The whole process from the time I walked in the door at the airport, bought the tax pass, got my boarding pass at Frontier, passed through their TSA security took 31 minutes. Total time from the downtown Sleep INN hotel to gate 9 at San Jose International Airport was 55 minutes.
Hello Fellow Scouts,
For those of you who are planning a trip to Costa Rica, I have friends in San Isidro who rent two cottages for the bargain price of $45 for the smaller unit and $65 for the larger. You can see the smaller unit posted at Homeaway.com #969365. James is American and his wife is Tico. They have two sons. Their cottages are lovely, and secure. They are a short walk to the bus stops, which have buses that run every 20 minutes or so, for .35 cents. No real need for a car, unless you care to explore. Even then, you can hire a taxi for a reasonable rate, to take you pretty much anywhere. I'd recommend Charlie, who speaks English, and is a great guy! There is the local ferria (market) every Thursday, that is a delight to attend. Fruits and vegetable like you've never seen! Great place to socialize with other Americans, Canadians, locals, etc. The town of San Isidro is about 15 minutes from the cottages. The cottages have access to the river(stream), where you can sit in the pools of water, sit on the rocks to read a book, or whatever is your fancy. The rush of the water will lull you to sleep at night. There are a variety of birds to feed and watch, as well. You can email James Peppard at james43michael@gmail.com for photos and more information.
I will soon be living directly across the river! Hope you'll look me up sometime. Bert DeForest